Los Angeles Times

Old Mr. Mackle Hackle's Zany Yet Tempered Lessons

July 13, 2000
by Lynne Heffley

Yes, it's that Gunnar Madsen, co-founder of the avant-garde a capella group the Bobs. Bringing the same wildly different lyric and musical creativity to his first children's album, Madsen has tempered zaniness with a keen-eyed awareness that goes straight to the heart of childhood.

Stroll down an unforgettable country "Chicken Road"; listen to a bunch of 1950s-style, tough guy T. Rexes explain that they were "Born to Chew"; learn to live life "The Evelyn Way" (a jazzy life lesson from a happy little pig); or listen to an erudite "Tiny Mosquito" define himself in a deft- and biting--comic operetta baritone.

Madsen changes mood, though not his idiosyncratic lyric spin, in the serene, image-rich "Selling Lemonade" and in "Flying, Flying," an evocation of the joyous freedom kids dream of: soaring solo until it gets scary, then being gathered in by mom and dad, cozy and safe until it's time to try those wings again.